Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1887-03-25

w @ have once Dot9re reiefr6u TO Az
torney General Garland's decision by
which hundreds Of honest settlers along
the line Of the Northern Pacific Rail.
road may be dispossessed Of the hard
earnings of many years to satisfy the
avarice OF giant monopoly that has
no soul and therefore cannot feel for
those 1t brushes to the earth. The de-
cisicn OF the Attorney General may be
Law, but II go 1t only shows how far
the country ct one time ran mad In
granting special privileges to railroad
corporations. The case upon which he
decided and which has brought upon
him the opposition Of the Knights OF
LABOR runs about this way: 10 1884 q
small farmer homesteaded . piece OF
ground fifty miles from the Northern
Pacific Railroad. TIE grant OF the
company extends only forty miles
from the track, therefore this settler
WAS outside the land grant line OF the
road. Only think OF the government
giving q width OF eighty miles OF land
and rs far az the govern ment lands ex-
tended whether q thousand or two
thousand miles TO . railroad corpora
tiou TO do with 1t As they saw proper.
No wonder European syndicates are
buying up millions OF acres Of land and
holding them for future developments
TO the exclusion OF honest settlers. This
settler, however, built . house. II
may not have been costly house with
all the adornments Of modern times,
but IL was his home and as dear to him
and more so than the oostliest mansion
TO the millionaire. He also farmed his
land and made 1t productive, and other
esttlers came AMI settled around him
and began also to improve their land.
Blu. ell at once the railroad company
stepped in aud claimed the land he and
his neighbors had improved. This
was done uuder clause OF the law
which granted this almost unlimited
stretch OF land TO the railroad company,
1t appears that wien Congress made
the grant it authorized the corporation
to 5sks up enough lands outside OF the
forty mile limit! TO compensate for the
loss of such lands as had already been
taken up by previous settlers IL there
were any such. That is, IL any settler
had before the forty mile-each- side Of.
blC-4 boch EAaICt t1hOh
mp forty or one hundred and sixty
acres Of land, the corporation could not
dispossess thas person OF his proper'y y,
but 1t could go beyond the limits OF It's
forty mile grant and take up as many
acres as the settler had taksn up with
in the grant. In accordance with 1t.
privileges the corporation went ter
miles beycl1 Its graut limit ant
claimed the improved lands OF Farme
Miller and his neighoors who settlet
around hun. Attorney General Gar
Land has decided that Millsf's entry o
the land was improper, and that tn
railroad company had the right to tn
land and not Miller.
The knights OF Labor, and yer,
properly every right.thinklDg man
protest most earnestly against any sucl
high-handed Llessures N the part o
shis corporation petsed and fattened b,
she government. They hold that tn
decision will entail the expulsion 0
large mum bers OF settlers who hav
taken up lands n good faith and i'm
proved them. they claim that 1t IA
vors great monopoly at the expens
OF the poor. There ia solid sense in th
argument that the company had plenT
OF land to select from without takin
that already improved and in Il
hands Of settlers.
We are inclined to think that th
must prove very unpopular move {
the tart OF The Northern Pacific RAJ
road. II has already received Il
enormous grant of sky million
aores from the government more tn!
any other road has IacsIyed. The
has already been go much taken fro
she people OF tina. which justly /
lopged to them that The compal
should have paused as It reached o
sts hands to gra, !, in more. But VII
more can bs expected OF an Atsorn
General that sccep.yd half MILL
dollars in Pan-elec,rc telephone sto
as gift aud then proceeded to test :
validity OF a rival telephone compan
charter?